Hi all. Toyota auris.

welcome aboard marc! is the sound coming from your door locks?

 

Might be the electric parking pawl engaging and disengaging. Probably a solenoid you're hearing.

SCH-I535

 

Normally it's a very quiet click. Most times I don't hear mine unless I have the window wound down and am listening for it. Sometimes the car will roll forward or back ever so slightly and then click. My car has 80,000 hard miles on it.

I do wonder if you might have damaged something when you engaged Park when moving. That's never a good idea.

I don't know about the Auris hybrid, but on the Prius pressing Park above about 5mph just shifts the car into Neutral as a safety feature. The Auris is slightly different in some ways so maybe the engineers removed that feature?

See how it goes, but if it's bothering you take it to the dealers to put your mind at rest.

 

lol I WAS a taxi driver but pulled out of it after 10 years due to the recession, too much competition and a race to the bottom on prices.

The gen3 of mine hasn't been the most reliable over its 80,000 miles. There are many posts on here about my experiences and expectations. If I'm honest, I think the early gen3's used lower quality parts to keep the price down to compete with the then newly released Honda Insight. Since then the price has gone up significantly as has the warranty. Originally the warranty for the gen3 was only 60,000 miles!?! and some cab drivers in Europe have reported problems. The warranty was subsequently increased to 100,000 miles in June 2010 but Toyota UK refused to back date it to the early gen3's, making me suspicious to say the least.

The UK hybrid warranty goes like this;

Gen2 Prius 2004 to 2009 8 years/100,000 miles
Gen3 Prius 2009-June 2010 5 years 60,000 miles
Gen3 Prius July 2010 onwards 8 years, 100,000 miles

Funny that the early gen3 cars don't get the warranty and haven't been particularly reliable. The US cars appear not to have problems but they get a 10 year 150,000 mile warranty so any failed parts or problems aren't really going to disadvantage the owner. Some owners have said that Toyota will extend your hybrid warranty if you get an annual check up BUT I've enquired with my dealer and been told that's rubbish. When I've asked members on here to post actual proof of this check up in the UK, none has been forthcoming.

The Auris Hybrid looks mean - I like it. It should also be more reliable as you have the latest model. Be careful with the 12v as it's the hybrid achilles heel. Make sure the expensive 0w20 oil is used too.

 

The 12v battery which is a throw back to traditional cars. It runs your lights, radio etc when the car is in Acc mode, but because it isn't needed to crank the engine in a hybrid it is much much smaller and thus liable to run down quickly. Also the hybrid system charges it more slowly than a traditional car. Oh and if it starts to fail you don't know until it starts doing weird electric issues - it lasts around 4-5 years and 80,000 miles or so and costs about £100 to replace. On a traditional car you know the 12v battery is shot as it turns the engine over slower and slower for a week or so before it dies.

Tyre pressures are ultra important to ensure best economy. Maybe get away with running them 1 psi over but a couple psi under affects economy noticeably. Some on here suggest inflating them much more than this but I believe the laws on such things are different in the US. You don't want to have a prang and Plod find your tyres were over.

What else to watch for? Eco mode is handy in town use as it holds the revs back and keeps the car in electric between lights etc. 'Normal' mode is great for out of town use and Power mode is great for overtaking, though I found it takes about 2 or 3 seconds to fully kick in - so switch it on when you even consider overtaking and then go for it. The car really does overtake effortlessly and surprises many.

Oh, don't worry if the a/c makes a real loud buzzing noise when first switched on on a hot day. Normal but alarming and only does it for a few mins most.

No point using Super 98 unleaded as the Prius is designed for a World market where in the US they use 92 and in Japan where they use 90 oct petrol. 95 is fine.

Adding a gallon or so when the car is near empty won't register on the fuel guage.

Be very very careful jump starting the hybrid and DON'T use it to start a neighbours car. You have been warned!

Don't use B mode other than going down steep hills. Toyota dealers think it helps charge your car better when really it's a hill decent mode - almost like an engine brake on a truck or bus. It will rev the engine after a long hill but not use petrol. That's to burn off any additional charge in the HV battery to get the car back to its sweet spot. Using EV mode can go upto 30 mph but mostly switches off at 20. It's dependent on so many factors - mainly battery temp.

Last thing. Be wary letting non Toyota garages near it. So many really haven't a clue about hybrids. I've found my car left in Drive on a ramp with the handbrake stuck on. Others say they know what to do and then 10 minutes later come back to the waiting area asking how to remove the handbrake etc. The main worry is that they don't fully switch the car off before doing work. They assume with the engine being off that the car is off and leave it in Ready when doing an oil change. The car senses the drop in temperature when the oil drains away and starts the engine causing significant damage. Many a Prius has met its maker that way. I've had to insist on staying with the car when it goes in for tyres to catch them with their mistakes. It's scary that so many places haven't a clue about a car that's been out for 10 years.

Think that's most things. Your passengers will love the quiet ride.

 

Charging the 12volt battery on my 2007 2nd Gen Prius | PriusChat

Hi Marc, check out this thread. I bought a CTEK charger/conditioner for the 12 volt battery on my car. I had a new battery and got the fitter to permanently attach the circlip ends of the cable to the battery. They then left the connector socket poking above the floor cover for easy access when needing to attach the charger. It saves having to mess about getting to the battery each time you want to charge it!

 

I didn't and thought that was the right thing to do as it would always top your 12v up and power all the items such as your 2way, computer, satnav, meter, have a/c on when sat on the rank etc, BUT my inverter failed at 70,000 miles!?!? This was a £2,000 repair thankfully carried out as a good will gesture from Toyota as i had a full Toyota service history.

The thinking behind this fail was that sitting stationary all the time got the inverter hot and caused the fail. The other thinking is that the failure was more to do with hours on rather than miles (like a tractor). If you have the 100,000 mile warranty you will probably be ok if it does fail. The only warning was a really high pitched noise (like when you brake but much much louder) when going down a steep hill. I thought that odd and reported it on this forum. About 6 weeks later the inverter went pop about 1/2 a mile from the bottom of that very same hill. There was no warning the second time. I went to overtake a truck, floored it, got half way past and pop. Dash lit up like a Christmas tree and no power - steering worked as did the brakes. Pulled over and the car ran on electric only upto about 25 mpg but the engine wouldn't go. Turned out half the inverter had burnt out.

The gen2 inverter was way over engineered apparently but the gen3 is small, more powerful and cheaper. You should get a good feel for the car by 70/80k miles and if it's been fine, then it'll probably continue to be so after the 100k warranty.

Regarding servicing costs; you can often get the main dealers to price match. Some main dealers will also do nice discounts for taxi drivers as you'll be there every 6 weeks or so. The benefit is that if anything does go wrong and it's in that grey area - they often do good will if you have full manufacturers service. Once you get past warranty (assuming you keep it) you can do what you want then I guess.

 

Hi Grumpy, so what is the right procedure re pressing Park button when stopping the car? I just pull up, press power button to cut the engine(s) and check that the display goes into Park mode. I then push the foot brake, pull out the key and leave the car. I have not been pushing the Park button - should I? What is the effect if I don't, will this bust the Inverter?

 

As with any automatic transmission (of any type) you should totally stop before pressing or engaging Park. If the car rocks violently back and forth then you've done it when the car was moving. Sometimes on a slope I'll engage park and then slowly release the brake pedal so the car slowly drops into Park and doesn't rock on the little parking pawl. I'm sure it won't be cheap to replace and won't be a warranty item.

Generally in traffic I'm a lazy so and so and will sit with my foot on the brake. Don't put the car in Neutral on a hybrid as the car won't be able to use the engine to charge up the HV battery and if you have the a/c on etc you could run the HV battery too low (the car will normally switch the engine on when it gets too low but can't in Neutral).

Not sure how you switch off in the Auris as the Prius doesnt have a key and as soon as you press the button to turn it off the car engages Park automatically.

Not sure you'll break the Inverter other than leaving the car in Ready for hours and hours over many years like I appeared to have done with mine. Just use normal comment sense and you should be ok. I know mine got some hammer on those busy Friday and Saturday nights . Just your normal daily or weekly checks, make sure it's topped up with oil and not over filled and you should be ok.

Any other questions?

 

Thanks for the advice Grumpy!

 

Hello Grumpy,
I have a question for you about being in neutral, you say above "(the car will normally switch the engine on when it gets too low but can't in Neutral)", I have the Auris and I'm certain the engine runs when in neutral, doe's this mean it's charging the HV battery?

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Think about it

The car is in NO gear. It's in Neutral.

Try it though. Not sure what the display on the Auris is like but on the Prius you can see little arrows flowing from the engine (or regen, or both) into the HV battery. In park, the engine will run if needing to charge the HV battery. The same applies when you leave the car in Drive at the lights with your foot on the brake. Leave it in Neutral and it sits there, running possibly but certainly not charging.

Generally if you left the car in Neutral for a min or two then there would probably not be much of an issue BUT if you had the a/c on high and the HV was already down to 2/8 bars, you could potentially run it below the safe state. Park the car up and sit in it in the car park whilst the Mrs goes in to shop and leave it in Neutral with the a/c on and you could have a problem and the car may not start (let alone possible damage to the HV battery).

Only Toyota have the correct equipment to correct charge up a HV battery that has gone too low.